PhD/MPH

[bcliff]

---

Members don't see this ad.

In your opinion, what type of work would a "Clinical PhD/MPH in _________" do? I like the idea of approaching mental health from a global perspective, and my UG institution has a very comprehensive Community/Clinical psychology program, which initially piqued my interest in that specialization, but the more research I've done I think that a dual Clinical PhD/MPH in "Biostatistics" or "Global Health" would provide a more comprehensive education on the social etiology of health problems. Do you think it's the worth the extra time required to complete the degree? Is there anything that an MPH can do or is trained in that a PhD simply can't or isn't? Also, I think some Clinical PhD statistics courses could count for an MPH in biostatistics, but I'm sure that would be up to the discretion of the institution. I feel like an MPH would be helpful for any work done on a large scale such as for the WHO or CDC - That seems like a pretty narrow niche, but I guess that's to be expected the more specialized anyone becomes.

 

[bcliff]

bump

 

[deleted462159]

The MPH focuses more on practice and population health, whereas your PhD is mostly research (you have your clinical practice, but that is individual health). Having said that, I recently took a doctoral-level global health course (Program Planning & Evaluation) that was more on the practical side. I would say it depends on your MPH concentration, what you're trying to accomplish, and what you feel you're missing from your PhD program.

 

[Ollie123]

I think it can be a very worthwhile endeavor. I think biostats and/or epidemiology would actually be of the most benefit if planning an academic career, but that's based on my own bias and/or background. They unquestionably get much, much, much better training in the mathematical base for statistics than even most "Stats geek" psychologists. I consider myself one of the latter and I truly wish I had a stronger mathematical background because despite my best efforts, once we move to more advanced techniques there are just far too many "Black boxes" where I just have to trust that prior researchers/software know what they are doing.

That said, someone with a couple years of Calc, Diff Eq., etc. might not find it as necessary. My one semester that was easier than the Calc I took in HS doesn't cut it past a certain point though!

 

[bcliff]

Thanks for the input everyone.

I've always loved epidemiology, but I assumed it wasn't an option, since I have essentially 0 biology experience, and epi seems to be the most bio intensive field of public health. I agree though that studying epidemiology from a cognitive-behavioral perspective would probably offer a lot of unique insight into the spread of disease.

 

[JeyRo]

Probably neither here nor there, but I do work with a clinical psychologist who has a PhD/MPH degree (from a funded program) and this person works in HBPC and has some other administrative / training responsibilities in our service.

Very nice person, very intelligent. This person has told me for a few years they have been looking to move on to something else, though. I don't blame this person as their talents seem slightly wasted, I would think.